EXPLORING PHOTOGRAMMERY AND AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGY FOR INNOVATIVE MAPPING AND SURVEYING AT HEART MOUNTAIN, WYOMING

Summary

Heart Mountain is an impressive geological anomaly visible across the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming. This unusual-shaped butte stands out among the many mountain ranges and basins in this part of the state. Identified on the earliest fur trapper maps, Heart Mountain has served as a recognizable landmark for centuries. The Crow (or Apsaalooké) tell stories of vision questing, buffalo hunting, camping, traveling, and fighting at Heart Mountain, and it was part of their reservation in 1868. Known as Foretop’s Father or Ihkapíliish Iilapxe, it was (and still is) considered to be the adopted father and protector of the Crow people. The archaeology surrounding the mountain is rich with stone features such as cairns, trail markers, fasting beds, and tipi rings. High-precision technology applied to document surface architecture at these sites has focusing on establishing regularized patterns of domestic life and distributions of resources across the broader landscape. In this paper we discuss innovative efforts to further understand spatial distribution by employing innovative techniques for the study of modest stone features on the mountains and plains of western North America. We combine data from photogrammetry and aerial archaeology, allowing for three-dimensional reproductions of the features and surrounding topography.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17315